Riding the Horse called Hope… a conversation with bill penzer

You would think that a person who had been a practicing psychologist for more than four decades would know how to cope with the diagnosis of cancer in one of his grown children. Psychologists are a source of refuge, help, and direction for many of us who suffer with all kinds of maladies and are faced with the constant struggles and the setbacks of life.

And yet as Dr. William Penzer sat beside his wife in the waiting room of one of the foremost cancer centers in the country after his daughter had been diagnosed with cancer he states that “nothing in his life or work had prepared him for the experience he was facing”.

Joyce and I had the privilege of having a conversation with Bill Penzer; a delightful session on powerful patient which passed by much too quickly. Penzer made a commitment to write a book on How to Cope Better When Someone You Love Has Cancer. His finished product leading caregivers and family members through the foreign landscape of a place called Cancerville provided so much information and insight that readers lobbied him to write a book for those diagnosed with cancer. Bill’s book How to Cope Better When You Have Cancer is crafted with wisdom and insights, and sprinkled with stories from actual survivors. Dr. Penzer does not dwell on the technical wording and phrases of the cancer experience, but he allows the reader to focus navigating through Cancerville using common-sense everyday examples to help empower the patient and the caregiver to deal with what they’re facing. He compares our mind to a TV screen and challenges the reader to practice using the remote to move the channel being viewed to a “calmer mental movie” if the mind is trying to focus on negative programs. Tips on how to make your work for you, how and where to vent emotional garbage which in Cancerville is called “cess” (for cesspool) and many other tidbits of information is shared by this doctor as he desires to help those who find themselves unprepared for a journey through Cancerville.

I would encourage you to take a few moments and to browse the website cancerville.com and also to listen to Dr. Penzer’s conversation with us: https://powerfulpatient.org//?p=1363

I think you’ll enjoy what you hear.    Warmest Wishes, Best of Success—Mike